HUNTSVILLE – Midway through the Southland Conference season the Sam Houston State Bearkats find themselves in the thick of the hunt and will make the turn down the schedule’s home stretch on Tuesday when they battle McNeese at the Lake Charles Civic Center.

The game can be watched online at McNeeseSports.com. Bearkat fans will also get the chance to listen live with Jordan Smith calling the game over the air on KSHU 90.5 FM. Live stats are available at GoBearkats.com and fans can also get updates as they happen by following @BearkatsMBB on Twitter.

The Kats are coming off an up-and-down week that saw them knock off first-place Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday before falling to preseason league favorite Stephen F. Austin on Saturday in Nacogdoches. Still, at 6-3 with nine games remaining, the Bearkats are still right there with no league team having less than two losses on their ledger.

Junior point guard John Dewey III has posted three straight games in double figures, while Christopher Galbreath Jr. continues to rank in the top 10 of the SLC in both points (15.0 ppg) and rebounds (8.8 rpg). Behind them the Kats have continued to pace the league in scoring defense and are turning the ball over a league-low 12.6 times per game. They will look to continue that steady play on Tuesday in search of Jason Hooten’s 150th victory as Bearkat head coach.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys have been one of the league’s surprises early in the conference play. Just a year removed from missing out on the Southland Conference Tournament, McNeese has split each of its first eight games in league play and will be returning home for the first time after a four-game road stretch.

Coach Dave Simmons’ crew boasts one of the top 3-point attacks in the league, hitting better than 35 percent of their shots from distance while Quattarious Wilson mans the glass, leading the league with 9.7 rebounds per game. He and Galbreath rank 1-2 in rebounding in the league this year with each having pulled down 10 or more boards a league-high nine times.

SERIES vs McNEESEThe Cowboys own a 38-31 lead all-time against the Bearkats, but Sam Houston has made up ground with wins in five of the last seven meetings. Sam Houston swept the season series a year ago, winning both in Lake Charles and Huntsville in what was the first season the teams met multiple times since 2012-13